Description

BRIXHAM

SX9056 CHURCH ROAD, Churston Ferrers
1946-1/5/57 (West side)
09/02/61 Church of St Mary the Virgin
(Formerly Listed as:
CHURSTON ROAD, Churston Ferrers
Christ Church)

GV II*

Parish church. Probably C15. Restored 1864-6 by E Ashworth of
Exeter. Squared Devonian limestone rubble with red sandstone
quoins; west wall and tower rendered. Windows mostly in Bath
stone; doorways in red sandstone. Slated roof; red ridge-tiles
crested with fleurs-de-lys. Stone chimney on north-east corner
of north chancel chapel.
Nave, north and south aisles, chancel, north and south chancel
chapels, west tower, south porch. Vestry, added in 1864-6, at
east end of north chancel chapel. 5 Perpendicular 4-light
windows in each of north and south walls; different designs,
some with pointed and some with 4-centred arches. 5-light east
window to chancel and 4-light windows to aisles, all
Perpendicular with pointed arches. All windows are C19
restorations.
South porch gabled with parvise chamber above. Both inner and
outer doorways chamfered and stopped, with rounded arches. To
right of outer door a round-arched holy water stoup. Parvise
chamber has a single-light window with pointed arch; jambs
probably of old Beer stone, head restored. Above it is
medieval carving of the Crucifixion flanked by the Two Marys;
cinquefoiled canopy over the whole group. Low stone seats
inside porch. Priest's door in S wall of aisle/chancel chapel;
restoration with pointed arch and hoodmould. 5-sided stair
turret to former rood screen; in N wall with slit window and
battlements.
3-stage tower with diagonal buttresses. Lowest stage has
restored 3-light window with traceried pointed arch. The 2
upper stages each have a single-light pointed window in the N,
S and W sides; mostly restored although the north and west
windows in the lower stage appear to be of old Beer stone. The
tower has never had a west door, probably because of its close
proximity to the manor house (Churston Court (qv)). But there
is a blocked doorway (visible only on the interior wall) with
a round arch at the west end of the south aisle.
INTERIOR: aisles and chancel chapels, which run into one
another, have 5 pointed arches each side; one carved with arms
of the Yarde family, another with mythical beasts. Stone
staircase to former rood loft in north wall; C19 carved Gothic
piscina in south wall of chancel. Quatrefoiled squint from
parvise chamber into south aisle. Waggon-roofs throughout; all
renewed in red deal 1864-6.
Fittings: remains of medieval rood-screen, reset under tower
arch. Stone font with octagonal medieval base decorated with
trefoil-headed panels; bowl of c1763 in Gothic style; early
C17 ogee font cover. Late C17 six-sided pulpit with raised
bolection-moulded panels. Late medieval bench ends with arms
of Ferrers, reset in chancel. Above the south door a wooden
panel with arms of Queen Anne; original paint; dated 1713.
Glass: east window of south chancel chapel contains reset
medieval glass. Bells: 3 dating from before 1553; oldest c1440
by Richard Norton of Exeter, with arms of Ferrers. A fourth by
Mordecai Cockey of Totnes, 1681.
Monuments: south aisle; William Farquharson (d.1813), a
retired civil servant of East India Company; white marble;
mourning female figure and urn under a Gothic arch.
From the Middle Ages until 1951 Churston church was a chapel
of St Mary's Higher Brixham; White's directory of 1850
describes it as a perpetual curacy. It had its own
churchwardens in C17 however, and in 1953 was described by the
Archdeacon of Totnes as a 'parish by tradition'.
(Tregaskes JH: Churston Story: Paignton: 1989-; The Buildings
of England: Cherry B: Devon (2nd edition): 1989-: 833-4; White
W: Directory of Devonshire: 1850-: 432).

Listing NGR: SX9042756419

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17550079

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)